Gary Dauberman on It: Chapter Two and his vision for Salem’s Lot

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

IT: CHAPTER ONE certainly set a high bar, but based on everything we've seen from IT: CHAPTER TWO, the upcoming sequel certainly stands a good shot at surpassing its predecessor. Gary Dauberman, who wrote both installments of IT, recently made his directorial debut with ANNABELLE COMES HOME and he spoke with THR about a few of his upcoming projects, including IT: CHAPTER TWO and SALEM'S LOT.

Gary Dauberman told THR that he's seen IT: CHAPTER TWO and is very, very happy and very, very proud of the film. "I don’t know if you can hear the joy in my voice as I try not to answer this question, but I’m very excited for everyone to see it," Dauberman said. "As a very, very anxious person, I have no anxiety about that movie whatsoever." Dauberman also spoke of the greater expectations facing the sequel thanks to the enormous success of the first time.

There’s always pressure, of course, but we all kinda kept our heads down and proceeded with the plan. There was never a moment where we said, “We really gotta outdo ourselves this time.” Stephen King and the novel did a lot of the heavy lifting for us. I can’t speak for anyone else involved, but I stuck with the plan we had because it seemed to work the first time. If it ain’t broke…

"It" author Stephen King has already praised IT: CHAPTER TWO, and his approval means a great deal to Gary Dauberman. "I can’t explain to you the relief I feel when he signs off on something or likes the work you’ve done," said Dauberman. "That’s the first person I’m trying to please when I’m adapting these things. It is an enormous amount of relief. I know I’m never going to be able to please everybody, so I just hope that he’s pleased. It really is a huge relief, and everything else for me is a bonus."

One of Dauberman's next projects is the first big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot." The story follows a writer who returns to his hometown of Salem's Lot in order to write about the Marsten House, an old mansion. Once there, he discovers that the mansion has been bought by the mysterious Kurt Barlow and comes to realize that the townspeople are being turned into vampires. Together with a small group, the writer attempts to halt the spread of the vampires and confront Barlow. "Salem's Lot" has been adapted to the small-screen twice before, once in 1979 for a mini-series starring David Soul (which spawned a sequel) and again in 2004 with Rob Lowe taking on the main role. Dauberman will be penning the script for SALEM'S LOT as well as serving as executive producer alongside James Wan. While it's still early days on the project, Dauberman did give a small tease of what to expect.

I like to be as true to the story as I possibly can until it gets a little too unwieldy for a movie. I’m very, very excited to be a part of that and tackle it. It hasn’t had the big screen treatment yet, which is how I felt about It. It’s so fun to play around with vampires and make something truly scary with vampires. I haven’t seen that in a long, long time, and I’m excited for people to see it.

IT: CHAPTER TWO is set to hit theaters on September 6, 2019.